Courses & Seminars

Our academic program is designed to achieve three objectives. First, because we want students from all disciplines, whether they are majors in biology, history, literature, or any other field, to be able to spend a year or a semester in Paris, we provide students with access to a broad academic program offering courses in a variety of fields. Students should discuss their projected program with their advisor before they leave the United States, but they probably can take at least one course in Paris that will count towards their major(s).

Second, because we think students can learn a great deal about French people and the French educational system from taking courses at a French university, we encourage students to take two university courses, and have agreements with a number of Parisian institutions to enable our students to do so. These courses are valuable not only for their academic content, but also for the opportunity they afford students to participate in a different educational system.

Third, because American students often prefer seminar-size classes to some of the larger classes they might find in the French university system, and because French universities do not offer some of the kinds of courses on French civilization and culture that American students want to take while in Paris, we organize seminars each semester on French politics, history, art history, film, literature, and theater. Taught by outstanding French professors, these seminars are conducted entirely in French and provide students with the kind of close student-teacher contact associated with a Vassar or Wesleyan education. Many of these seminars include on-site lectures at museums and monuments, and visits to governmental institutions, concerts, films, opera, and theater performances.

Students plan their academic program in consultation with the resident director, who is a member of the Vassar or Wesleyan faculty and serves as the academic advisor for all students during their time in Paris.
The academic program has four components—the writing-intensive courses, seminars organized at Reid Hall and French university courses. All students enroll in four courses. All students must take a writing-intensive course. They are also expected to take two French university courses. The fourth course may be chosen from the French university or the VWPP seminars.

Concurrently, all students are required to attend a weekly individual French tutoring session at Reid Hall. These “tutorats” provide added support for students’ French academic work and oral and written skills in the language.

Up until 1968, there was a single Parisian university, commonly known as the Sorbonne. After 1968, in response to student demands, the University of Paris was split into a number of separate universities, each with its own set of programs. Paris II, for example, is the law school; Paris V is the medical school. The original “Sorbonne” is thus split into several independent institutions and is no longer centralized in one location. Several UFR (roughly equivalent to academic departments in the US) especially at Paris IV are located in different arrondissements of Paris (for example, Philosophy and History for the 1st and 2nd years Licence is located in the 18th arrondissment near the Porte de Clignancourt). In order to provide students with a comprehensive set of course choices, the VWPP has agreements with three of the above-mentioned universities—Paris 3 (Sorbonne Nouvelle), Paris IV (La Sorbonne) and Paris 7 (Paris Diderot)— along with the Collège International de Philosophie, that permit program students to take courses there. The VWPP has also an agreement with Paris XII (Université Paris Est Créteil) which is easily reachable with the line number 8 of the subway in Paris.

Like most French university courses, the seminars and writing-intensive courses organized by the program meet once a week for two hours. Since it is program policy to limit class size, students may not be able to take all the seminars in which they would like to enroll. We will, however, make every effort to arrange a challenging and rewarding program for each participant.

The following seminars were offered in the previous semesters:

Fall 2018

Myths in Literature
Paris in French Cinema
French Love: a Strange Exception?
The French West Indies: A Global Laboratory
Theater: Shining Light on the World
Art and Politics: The Activist Artist
“Arabs”, Islam and Politics in France (1962-2018)
A Post-Colonial France? A Journey from the Past

Spring 2018

The Devil in French Literature and the Arts
France Rebels
Contextual Art
Literature and Photography
Women, Gender, Sexuality, and Colonialism/Post Colonialism

Fall 2017

The Memory of Wars in Paris and in Literary Texts
Scandal in Art: Provocations, Controversies, and the Visual Arts
The World in Performance on the Parisian Theater Stage
The Spectacle of Paris in French Cinema
The Devil in French Literature and the Arts

Spring 2017

Women, gender, sexuality, and colonialism/post-colonianism in Algeria and metropolitan France (1830-2016)
Art and Politics : The Activist Artist
The World in Performance on the Parisian Theater Stage
Parisian Transports : Mobilities, Migrations and Emotions
Paris in Revolutions

Fall 2016

Independent Study: Advanced French
Collective Memory in Paris and in Literary Creation
Art and Politics : The Activist Artist
Panorama of Contemporary Theatre
Paris in French Cinema
The Devil in French Literature and the Arts
Literature and Photography: The creation of an Esthetic (20th-21st centuries)

Spring 2016

France and the Maghreb: A history of colonial and postcolonial relations
Contextual Art
Theatre in Paris: From Yesteryears to our Day
Revolutionary Paris
Literature and Journalism

For courses being offered in the current semester, please consult “Cours à Reid Hall” (page in French)

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TCF test mandatory for 2019-20 students

The Test de connaissance du Français (a French language test) is mandatory for all students participating on VWPP.

The TCF will be offered at Vassar College in the GIS Lab, Ely Hall on the following dates:

– Wednesday, May 8th, 2019
from 12 – 2:30 pm and from 3 – 5pm

The TCF will be offered at Wesleyan University in the Language Resource Center, Fisk Hall on the following dates:

– Friday, May 3rd, 2019
– Monday, May 6th, 2019

Fall 2019 – Skype Housing Interviews

April 8th: Deadline for all accepted students to submit responses to Housing questionnaire online.

Between April 19th and 30th – TBA : Housing Skype appointments with Lisa Fleury for Vassar Students. Please check with Susan Stephens at the Office of International Programs to make sure you sign up for an appropriate time.

Between April 19th and 30th – TBA : Housing Skype appointments with Lisa Fleury for Wesleyan Students and other institutions. Please check with Michael Acosta at the Office of Study Abroad to make sure you sign up for an appropriate time-slot.

April 29th: Housing questionnaire is closed for changes. Any changes after this date sent to Lisa Fleury may not be guaranteed and are subject to availability.

NB : All times are EST

Please be considerate and come to your appointment on time. All Vassar students will be interviewed in the Office of International Programs.

(Students from other schools who have been accepted should email their Skype user name to Lisa Fleury well ahead of your interview so that she can add you in her contact list.)